How and Why to Be More Present in the Moment

What does it mean to be more present? When you are present in any given moment, you are paying attention to what’s going on around you. When you’re with your family, you’re really listening to what they are saying instead of looking at your phone or thinking about a problem at work. When you eat, you’re really enjoying the food. Being present in the moment means that you are fully aware and getting the most out of every experience.

The Value of Right Now

The present is really all you have. The past is just a memory, and the future is largely unknown and definitely out of reach. Knowing this, it seems strange that we spend so much time thinking about the past and anticipating the future instead of simply existing in the time that we have right now. There’s nothing wrong with being forward thinking and planning for the future, but your life will be richer when you make an effort to experience it right now.

Paying Attention

Do you tend to do things so that they are good enough even if they aren’t great? Do you try to distract yourself when you have to do something you don’t particularly enjoy, like washing dishes? Try an experiment in which you approach your next task with excellence and with your complete attention.

Improve Your Experiences

Being present isn’t just about trying to be there for the things that are boring. Think about the things that you enjoy and how you might be able to improve them. For example, if you enjoy smoking dry herbs, do you just put up with the smoke and the slight irritation it may cause to your throat? What if you took steps to just make it better? With a vaporizer, you can get a clean experience and avoid destroying herbs in smoke. You can shop a collection of vaporizers that can help make your experience more pleasant.

Digital Detox

Ditching the smoke may be one thing, but what about ditching your phone? If you’re like most people, you probably can’t get rid of it altogether, but what if you took a break from social media and all of your apps and relegated your phone to use only for making and receiving calls? What if you only used your computer for work and then set the devices aside when you left the office? Almost everything in life from play time with your kids to getting better sleep can be linked back to some form of digital detoxing. 

It can feel a little scary, as though you are cut off, but you will be surprised how in the moment you can be when you must deal with the boredom of standing in line or waiting on a friend without scrolling through your phone. Try just looking at what is around you, using your senses to smell and listen to everything. Of course, living in the modern world means the digital detox can’t be permanent, but you might want to make it a regular feature of your life, something that you do every few days or weeks just to help you disengage and live a little more in the real world.

 

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